


Tell Me Again

by her_majesty_wears_jeans



Series: Outside the (Ask) Box [4]
Category: Madam Secretary
Genre: Arguing, F/M, Light Angst, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2020-11-24 10:07:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20905886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/her_majesty_wears_jeans/pseuds/her_majesty_wears_jeans
Summary: Henry and Elizabeth aren't really talking, but there is one thing Henry needs to remember to tell her anyway.





	Tell Me Again

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt "Tell me again."

It’s the third time that week Henry’s awake before his alarm beeps. Getting up quietly, he turns the clock off and tiptoes across the room. He’s letting Elizabeth sleep, he justifies to himself with a guilty glance over his shoulder to his wife who’s huddled under the blankets. He’s avoiding her, whispers another part of his mind.

Henry steps into the shower and turns the water to as cold as he can stomach. He takes longer than usual, standing there to the point where the freezing water starts to feel hot to his bare skin while he listens to Elizabeth move around their room, getting ready. Only once he hears the familiar click of her heels on the stairs does he turn the water off, quickly drying himself off and throwing on some clothes.

They have been giving each other a wide berth for almost a week now, ever since Henry told her about his new assignment. Elizabeth doesn’t approve of him insisting on being so involved with the asset; a fact she demonstrated at first by reasonable arguments that turned into heated shouting that eventually led to icy silence.

They haven’t bothered to put up a happy front for the kids this time around as they’d see through it anyway, but Henry has read enough psychology to know that even forced smiling will inevitably boost his mood. He’s using the same technique with Elizabeth, hoping it won’t be too long till his feelings are once again genuine, as he politely asks about her coming day, letting their fingers brush against each other when he hands her a thermos. 

Elizabeth takes it with a small smile, stroking the lid of the cup with her thumb absentmindedly as she looks up at him. “Henry…” she starts with a sigh that betrays exactly what she wants to discuss. He’s not ready to have that conversation yet.

Trying to come up with a fair reason to look away, he checks his watch, surprised to see he should have left ten minutes ago.

“Not now, Elizabeth. I have to go, I’m late. Love you”, he says all in one breath, rushing out the kitchen and towards the front door.

Elizabeth’s voice stops him in the foyer. “Tell me again."

He turns, ready to snap at her for making him run even later than he already is, but the irritation fades away once he sees the look on her face. “Tell you what?” he asks, now simply confused.

“Tell me you love me, Henry”, Elizabeth demands, looking him straight in the eye. Her voice and body language display the practiced authority she’s used to upholding every day at work; Henry knows he’s the only one who can detect the slightest hints of insecurity behind the façade, the tremor in her voice, the glistening in her eyes. Even worse is knowing he’s to blame for them. 

He steps as close to her as he can get. “I love you”, he says with fervor, letting his voice come out as gruff and desperate as he feels. He’s angry with her, he thinks he even has the right to be, but he’s trying to recognize her right to be angry with him as well. He’s not shortsighted enough to become blinded by his negative feelings, though. He may not know how to go about fixing things between them, but he knows he wants to, more than anything. He’s been avoiding her in hopes of avoiding confrontation; he didn’t want to risk saying something that would push her further away. It seems, however, that his absence has done just that. He suddenly feels cold. 

Elizabeth nods, as if accepting his declaration. “I love you”, she repeats. 

Relieved, Henry debates whether or not to kiss her. She makes the decision for him, pressing her lips to his own. The kiss is light and brief, out of habit rather than passion or affection yet it’s the most intimate form of physical contact they’ve shared in days.

The loud ringing of Elizabeth’s phone startles them apart. Raising it between them, Elizabeth glances down to the device in her hand and lets out a silent huff. Russell Jackson, Henry guesses, trying to decipher the upside-down letters blinking on the screen.

“I’ll see you once the world’s back in order?” he asks, only half-joking. 

Instead of answering him, she presses the phone to her ear and turns around to hunt down her coat. He thinks he saw the corner of her mouth tugging upwards, though, and with that, he finally slips out the door.


End file.
